1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a food cooking apparatus and, more particularly, to food cooking apparatuses which are adapted to cook, for example, dough into a bread or pastry product near an open camp fire or other heat source.
2. Background Art
Food cooking apparatuses have been known in the art for years, and are the subject of numerous patents, including: U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,409 entitled “Combination Fork,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,797 entitled “Portable Grill,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,207 entitled “Safety Fork for Use Over Camp Fires and Grills,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,162 B1 entitled “Open Fire Cooking Apparatus,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,827 B1 entitled “Rotary Food Cooking Apparatus,” United States Patent Application Publication Number 2006/0150963 A1 entitled “Camping Tube Grill,” and United States Patent Application Publication Number 2007/0084353 A1 entitled “Food Roasting Apparatus”—all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety including the references cited therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,409 appears to disclose a combination fork which has a handle at one end of an elongated shaft, and tines at the other end of the shaft for cooking food morsels over an open source of heat. The handle of the cooking fork includes at the butt end thereof an open bore. A smaller fork is adapted to be force-fit into the bore. The smaller fork may be extracted from the bore to remove the cooked food morsels from the tines of the larger fork. In one disclosed embodiment, the bore in the larger fork is generally cylindrical and extends substantially the length of the handle. The smaller fork is inserted into the bore with the tines first, and the handle of the smaller fork has a small conical taper enlarging toward the butt end, whereby the force-fit inside of the bore of the larger fork is accomplished by pushing the small fork into the bore to a point where the diameter of the tapered handle equals or slightly exceeds the diameter of the mouth of the bore.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,797 appears to disclose a portable outdoor grill which includes a round, smooth stake having a T-shaped upper end to facilitate insertion and removal from the ground. An E-shaped double-hook having at each end a hook making contact with the post at two separated points, mounts on its external side a sleeve that slidably receives a horizontal arm. One end of the arm is for mounting a cooking utensil over a source of heat, and the other end mounts a wooden handle. The cooking utensil may be a wire basket having a wire lid allowing cooking of the other side of the food on rotation of the basket; two lid levers embracing the arm preclude opening of the lid on rotation of the basket. The basket may be replaced by a Y-shaped bar whose branches have arcuate shapes providing three-point support for a range of differently sized cookware.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,207 appears to disclose a safety fork for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over an open fire. The fork has an elongated shaft with a handle at one end and a hook at the other. The hook is formed from a pair of tines extending forwardly, then bending rearwardly forming a bight defining a food holding area adapted for receipt of one or more hot dogs or marshmallows and finally extending rearwardly, the tines having a plane of symmetry passing through the shaft. Forwardly and rearwardly extending portions of tines are in stacked planes so that the food holding area continues for a distance along the forwardly extending portion of the tines.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,162 B1 appears to disclose an apparatus for cooking food items over an open fire which allows a cook to turn the food and adjust the position of the food over the fire while maintaining a safe distance from the fire. The apparatus is constructed and arranged to allow hands-free operation or, if desired, allow a cook to continually control the position of the food over the fire using one hand. This is accomplished using a telescopic handle and two supports.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,827 B1 appears to disclose a rotary food cooking apparatus for food being roasted over an open heat source such as a campfire. The device appears to be adaptable for holding other food items, such as marshmallows, by the use of an accessory holder.
United States Patent Application Publication Number 2006/0150963 A1 appears to disclose a camping tube grill that is assembled to create a grilling surface over a fire pit and may be collapsed into a compact carrying case. The camping tube grill includes two tubular rails, several grill rods, a pair of U-shaped spacing bars, and a storage case into which the rails, rods and bars are placed for storage and transport. The grill rods and spacing bars are inserted within holes defined in the rails, forming a grilling surface. One rail has a greater diameter than the other rail so that when the camping tube grill is disassembled, the smaller rail is able to fit within the larger rail. The spacing bars and grill rods are then inserted within the smaller rail, and the assembly is packed together into the compact carrying case.
United States Patent Application Publication Number 2007/0084353 A1 appears to disclose a food roasting apparatus which includes an elongated rigid rod with opposite first and second ends, a handle attached to the first end, and a basket attached to the second end. The rod defines a rod longitudinal axis, the basket defines a basket longitudinal axis, and the rod includes an offset portion such that the rod longitudinal axis is inline with the basket longitudinal axis. Since the rod longitudinal axis is inline with the basket longitudinal axis, the basket does not rise or fall when rotated with the rod. The food roasting apparatus may include a sleeve coupled to the rod and a stand that releasably captures the sleeve and supports the rod. The apparatus includes an open-ended basket and a basket that easily and safely opens and closes. When cool, the basket can be removed from the rod for transport or cleaning.
While the above-identified patents and publications do appear to provide food cooking apparatuses, their configurations remain non-desirous and/or problematic inasmuch as, among other things, none of the above-identified apparatuses appear to be configured to effectively enable a user to convert dough into a cooked pastry product over an open flame or coals which is suitable for association with, for example, a bratwurst, frankfurter, hot dog, sausage, wiener, pudding, sugar, cinnamon etcetera—among other things.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a food cooking apparatus, which, among other things, remedies the aforementioned detriments and/or complications associated with the use of the above-identified, conventional food cooking apparatuses. It is further therefore an object of the present invention to provide a food cooking apparatus, which, among other things is relatively easy to clean (e.g., compared to a wooden dowel), small and easy to store while camping, and/or facilitates reasonably good heat transfer.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent in light of the present specification, claims, and drawings.